austraLasia 1504
Joseph Cardinal Zen: a 'Study in Scarlet'
ROME (Pisana): 25th March 2006 -- "The ring, man,
the ring: that was what he came back for. If we have no other way of
catching him, we can always bait our line with the ring. I shall have
him, Doctor -- I'll lay you two to one that I have him. I must thank
you for it all. I might not have gone but for you, and so have missed
the finest study I ever came across: a study in scarlet." Thus
spake Sherlock Holmes, in the story by that name, 'Study in
Scarlet'. I normally skip supper at the Pisana, and 'might not
have gone' but for the visit of our Cardinal. And indeed, the
ring was a thing of wonder, newly bestowed today by Pope Benedict
XVI. Fr Savio, Provincial of China Province, has a photo of it
taken during this evening's meal - at least I think he has, as he was
busy photographing the Cardinal's finger! At least it gave
austraLasia the chance to catch the man we had missed earlier.
Joseph Cardinal Zen was amongst his own - and what
an historic occasion it was, when you reflect on it. Many members
of his family, of his Salesian family, a childhood friend too, joined
the Successor of Don Bosco and the Cardinal for Evening Prayer followed
by a 'supper' of Chinese proportions, if you get what I mean. The
courses were beyond count. But you don't want to hear about the
food, the ring - you want to know what he said and what was said of him.
Three minute Good Nights are an art form.
Cardinal Zen used artistic license to extend the time, but still kept
the art. One immediately appreciated the Salesian pedigree of
this man. You can read the rest in the daily papers - his poor
childhood, his father who wanted to be a priest but as a first
generation Catholic couldn't...the five Masses each Sunday....but 'the
papers' won't give you the Salesian pedigree: Don Braga (a true founder
in his own right: China, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, East
Timor...they all come either directly or indirectly from that man), Don
Massiminio his novice master, Don Quadrio at the Crocetta (not to
mention Don Bertetto and others); then his time in a Chinese Province
that was growing so rapidly it could have become two - then the war,
the poverty, the expulsions, ....his eventual period as Provincial then
teacher in Chinese seminaries - 'a veritable grace of God', then his
nine years already guiding the Hong Kong Church, and now ' the Pope's
choice confused me, until I came to accept that it is on behalf of the
Chinese people'.
What sort of a man do we have here? If the
French Revolution proclaimed Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, this
man's rallying cry is Liberty (as a Chinese), Education
(as a Salesian), Church (as a Bishop and now Cardinal).
More than once he spoke of the passing of winter and the coming of
spring - in China. 'Now seems the time', he mused, and urged us to pray
for religious freedom in China. He made the none-too-subtle point
that it is not just the Church which needs relations with the Chinese
Government, but 'it is the Government which needs relations with the
Church, otherwise it cannot of its own accord handle the surge of
religious longing' that is going on in China. A point well made.
The Rector Major toasted His Eminence a little later
during supper, first with 'Cardinal Mendoza',
but then with the gift of a small (but very heavy) bronze statue of Don
Bosco surrounded by youngsters, a 'reminder of our return to the
young'. He recalled his own emotion at the mention of Don Braga,
but also from his recent visit to China. He recalled another
'cup', the cup of martyrdom and indeed the chalice given by Don Albera
to St. Louis Versiglia who, on its receipt, said he would fill it, if
not with his blood then with sweat. He filled it with both.
The Cardinal spoke briefly after this gift.
Yes, there is the dream of Don Bosco, he said, and he knew that Don
Bosco had seen this moment too. But he then reminded us that he
had also chosen a 'dream of Don Bosco' for his episcopal coat of arms
(you will find it on the Bosconet Home
Page, scroll down): the two columns and the anchor of hope.
His final words give us a glimpse of the man, his
Sherlock Holmes touch, when you come to think of it. He had dealt
regularly with Fr.Viganò when he was teaching in China. At one
point Fr Viganò said to him, 'Sai, che la furbizia è una virtù
salesiana'. 'You know, shrewdness is a Salesian virtue'!
In 'Study of Scarlet', Doctor Watson makes this comment, as he
picks up a magazine from the famous detective's table while the latter
was munching his toast and marmalade: "Its somewhat ambitious title was
'The Book of Life', and it attempted to show how much an observant man
might learn by an accurate and systematic examination of all that came
in his way. It struck me as being a remarkable mixture of shrewdness
and of absurdity". Indeed! Zen and Holmes have something in
common methinks.
GLOSSARY
Cardinal Mendoza: a superb Spanish
brandy. It is said that it is the one 'cardinal' which does harm
to nobody!
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